Gone Over
by Niyuluna
Summary: Harry Potter realizes something when the Dursley's go too far. What will he do with his newfound knowledge?
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: All recognized characters belong to the beloved J.K. Rowling. THANK YOU FOR FINALLY TELLING US WHEN THE FIFTH BOOK IS COMING OUT!!!!

A/N: Heh, I finally got another one up here. Dontcha all wove me now? ^_^ Please review it, else I'll die, and so will the story. x.x

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Gone Over

**__**

Chapter One: The Beginning

~*~

Harry ran even harder. He had to run. He couldn't stop, not ever. He had to keep going, had to get away. He was too close to losing his self control, and he couldn't lose control. That would be what they wanted. That would be proving them right.

They could never be right.

_"You dumb little idiot! Look what you did -"_

They weren't right.

_"Get up you little twerp! Breakfast needs to be ready for my Dudleykins in ten minutes! Hurry it up!"_

They were wrong.

_"You're worthless. A worthless, stupid boy!"_

Always wrong.

_"You're a good-for-nothing, rotten kid! Just like your parents!"_

Never right. His parents were great.

_"What are you doing, you freak!"_

He was not a freak.

_"What's this? Pictures of you're freak parents?"_

His parents weren't freaks. They were wonderful.

_"Put that away and get to work, you b*st*rd child."_

He was not a bastard.

_"I said get to work, you worthless boy!"_

Always wrong.

Harry stopped running under a shady pine tree to catch his breath. He didn't know how long he had been running, but he did know that it had been a while. He didn't care though. All he knew was that he never wanted to go back, not ever. Not with those - those - _creatures_.

Harry looked around at his surroundings. He was in a forest somewhere. He didn't know where. He never bothered looking at muggle maps, not after he first received his Hogwarts Letter. After that he had seen it as he had found a home. A real home, and only during the summer months was he forced to stay at the prison known as Number Four at Privet Drive.

Harry sat down and leaned his back against the pine tree, resting. He decided he had to stop and think for a moment. He needed to decide what to do, now that he refused to stay with the Dursley's. Harry's eyes narrowed at the thought of the Dursley's and what they did.

_"Go vacuum the parlour, boy." said Vernon Dursley. Harry just sat there and kept on looking at the photo album Hagrid had given him during his First Year._

"Did you hear me boy? I said go vacuum the parlour!" exclaimed Vernon, getting into Harry's face.

"I don't want to." Harry replied, "and if you make me, I'll just write to my godfather."

"Well, you know what I think of your godfather? This!" Vernon yelled, backhanding Harry which made him drop his photo album.

"What's this? Pictures of you're freak parents?" asked Uncle Vernon, picking up the photo album from off the floor. Harry didn't answer.

"Put that away and get to work, you b*st*rd child." Harry didn't move. He was trying to regain more self control, so he wouldn't accidentally use magic and get a notice from the Ministry of Magic.

"I said get to work, you worthless boy!" yelled Vernon. Harry glared at him and slowly got up.

"You know what, you've got a busy schedule today. Can't have you being distracted, can we?" asked Vernon with a malicious look in his eyes. He ripped page after page out of Harry's photo album, while Harry looked on in shocked horror.

Ripping.

Tearing.

Shredding.

Destroying.

Destroying one of Harry's few precious connections to his parents.

Gone. All gone.

And unseen wind gathered around Harry, making his already messy hair even more messy. Vernon Dursley slowly backed away in fear.

"You're the b*st*rd," Harry whispered in rage, "You are. Not me. You."

"Vernon, what is going -" Petunia Dursley gasped when she saw Harry.

"HOW DARE YOU DESTROY THE PICTURES OF MY PARENTS!!! WHAT RIGHT HAVE YOU TO DO SUCH A THING!!!" Harry yelled, magically making the wind he had unknowingly gathered around him push Vernon against the wall. Nearly glowing with rage, Harry made the wind pick Vernon up, and began to slowly draw the air out of his lungs.

"What are you doing, you freak!" screamed Petunia, running towards the suffocating Vernon.

Harry let go of the wind and Vernon fell. He stared, almost in a state of shock at Vernon and Petunia.

"Get out." Petunia whispered, then screaming, said, "GET OUT!!!"

Harry ran. Ran as far as he could.

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He had thought that he understood why Tom Riddle had wanted to stay at Hogwarts over the summer holidays during his Second Year. Now he understood better than ever.

Tom Riddle.

Lord Voldemort.

Tom Marvolo Riddle.

I am Lord Voldemort.

And it hit Harry.

For the first time since he had heard of Voldemort, Harry understood the why.

"Muggles don't understand us, so they become afraid. They fear our power, our abilities. That fear turns into anger, and so they become angry at us. After that, they hate us. Voldemort knows and understands this. He took that understanding to a terrible level, believing that all muggles were like this when that's not true. It's only most of them."

Harry pulled his knees close to his chest. Seeing a stick lay nearby, he grabbed it and began drawing in the ground. Rain began to drizzle lightly outside of the thick branches of the pine tree he sat under.

"But then again," he muttered while writing in the dirt, "It's Voldemort's fault I'm with the Dursley's anyway. If it hadn't been for him, I could still be living with my parents. I wouldn't be the bloody Boy-Who-Lived. I wouldn't be a name everyone recognized. I wouldn't be out here right now. Cedric would still be alive."

He stared blankly into the dirt he was doodling on. After a while, he didn't know how long, he noticed that it had started raining a little bit harder and that he had written out his full name on the dirt.

__

Harry James Potter

Under that, he had apparently been rearranging the letters. He didn't remember doing it, but there was another name under his, made from all the letters in his name.

__

Majesty Raethorp

"Majesty Raethorp," he said aloud. It sounded kind of stupid, so he said it again without pronouncing the 'p' at the end. He picked up his stick once more and wrote the word 'his' in front of the new name.

"His Majesty Raethorp." he said aloud. A name no one knew, unlike his current one.

He sighed and tried to go to sleep as the rain poured down harder.

*~*

Harry awakened to the sound of something knocking on wood. Without opening his eyes he sat up and murmured, "I'm coming, I'm coming."

He attempted to reach for his glasses, thinking that he was once again in his cupboard under the stairs, only to find his hand connecting with tree bark.

"What the - " he said and opened his eyes to find his glasses were on him. Well, half on him. Looking around, he saw he was in a forest, and for a moment couldn't remember why he was there. Then the memories came flooding back.

He couldn't return.

_I'm a bloody 16-year-old wizard, wandless and alone, in the muggle world. **Now** what am I supposed to do!?_

He noticed that his writing and doodling from last night were still visible, if only just.

_The rain must have washed most of it away_

He stood up and stretched while his bones creaked and muscles groaned in protest. Massaging the shoulder he had fallen asleep on, he scuffled his sneakers against the dirt, destroying all remnants of his being there. A dew drop fell on his nose and he wiped it away. He sniffed his arm and grimaced.

"Merlin, do I need a shower or what?"

Sighing, Harry started the long trek back to the Dursleys. He didn't want to go back, but he needed to get his wand, among other important things. The number one on his List of Important Things to Get was a shower. Cracking his back, Harry broke out into a jog and started to think at the same time. What would he do when he reached the Dursley's? Well, he couldn't show up when they were at home. He'd have to wait till they left. They kept a spare key hidden by the door in case the usual one got lost or bent or something. But what after that? He couldn't possibly fit all his wizarding things in one of Dudley's muggle book bags without using magic. And if he wanted to dissappear for a while, at least until start of the new term, then there was no way he could use magic whatsoever. Harry began to make a list of things he would be able to fit in a book bag in his mind. Some muggle clothes would definitely be needed. Other necessities, like toothbrush and toothpastes and stuff would be important as well.

Harry stopped suddenly, realizing where he was. He had already made it back to Privet Drive. Had he really been jogging that long? He looked at his watch. He had been running for nearly two hours. Amazing how time can fly when you're preoccupied. It was around noon time, so he quickly went to Number Four, taking careful precautions to make sure he wasn't seen, and hid in the bushes. The Dursley's car was still in the driveway. How long would he have to wait till they left?

Not long apparently. It appeared that the Dursley's decided to go out for lunch.

_Probably in celebration of my leaving._

Harry looked on bitterly as the Dursley's pulled out of the driveway and sped away. He waited a full ten minutes to make sure the neighbours would have gone back to whatever they were doing, and to make sure that the Dursley's hadn't forgotten something to make them come back and find him. Looking both ways, he grabbed the hidden house key and quickly unlocked the door and went inside. He locked it back up again in case the two Pigs and the Giraffe came home while he was still there. He ran up to the second floor and headed for his room. Grabbing some clean clothes, he immediately headed for the shower.

He shed his dirty clothes and turned the shower faucet and jumped right in, not even bothering to warm it up first. Harry gasped as the ice cold water hit his flesh. There was no time for luxuries. He didn't know when the Dursley's would be back and couldn't risk getting caught.

That was the Cardinal Rule of the Moment: Don't risk getting caught.

Harry finished washing the grime out of his hair and off his body, and quickly jumped out. He shivered for a moment and grabbed a towel to dry himself. Getting dressed, he left the bathroom to find a book bag. Harry didn't bother drying his hair.

Looking in Dudley's room, Harry wrinkled his nose. He had thought his cousin was a pig before, but if he'd had any doubts (which he hadn't) they were blown away with this sight. Dudley's clothes were strewn about the floor, with candy wrappers covering whatever parts of the floor would have been seen. The bed wasn't made and the tv and computer were still on, along with all the lights. Carefully, Harry made sure not to step on any candy wrappers, which left only the clothes to step on. He made his way to the closet and opened it, jumping out of the way just in time as a pile of things came tumbling out. Harry shook his head. How could anyone live like this? Not even he and Ron were this messy!

_Must be a muggle thing._

Harry picked through the pile of things and finally found Dudley's book bag. He dumped everything that was in it, which happened to be candy wrappers and nothing more, out onto Dudley's already invisible floor. Harry left the horrific room and went back to his own. Setting the book bag on his bed, he grabbed some clothes, rolled them up so they were small and shoved them in the book bag, all the while straining his ears so he could hear if the Dursley's car pulls up. He finished putting his clothes in and paused, thinking of what else he might need.

Money.

Of course, how could he be so stupid as to forget money? Harry ran down the stairs to his old 'bedroom', the cupboard under the stairs. Picking the lock, he grabbed the trunk and dragged it up to the smallest bedroom. Taking all of the books out of it, he opened the loosened floor board and put his books in there. Almost as an afterthought, he stuck his quills and his robes in there as well as his Firebolt, although he did so reluctantly. His wand he kept with him. No sense in being defenceless with Voldemort after you. He took out all the money he had in there and put it in his book bag. He'll have to somehow get to Gringotts, without being seen, and change it to pounds. If Harry was to dissappear, he would have to disappear into the muggle world. It would be too easy to catch him if he stayed in the wizarding world.

He walked down the stairs dragging the now empty trunk behind him. He put the trunk back under the cupboard, carefully making it so it appeared as if it had never been moved. Harry had just finished arranging it when he heard a car door slam and the keys begin to turn.

_Oh sh*t._

He quickly closed the cupboard door and laid on top of his trunk, a most uncomfortable position, and quieted his breathing.

_Merlin above, don't let them find me._

"What a fine day it is Dudley!" exclaimed a voice that was unmistakebly Vernon Dursley's. Harry clenched his teeth and slowly counted backwards from 100.

"I want more food!" exclaimed Dudley. Harry could see a fake pout on his chubby face already.

"There's some in the kitchen, Duddykins. Why don't you go get some ice cream, okay sweetie?" asked Petunia. As soon as Dudley was apparently out of earshot, not that the boy ever listened in the first place, Petunia asked, "Do you think he'll come back?"

"No, that boy is as good as dead, - " 

_86, 85, 84, 83_...

" - he won't come back here if he knows what's good for him."

_Okay, maybe a hundred isn't big enough. 1,000, 999, 998_...

"MUM!!! I CAN'T FIND THE ICE CREAM!!!" yelled Pig Boy from the kitchen.

"Coming honey!" called Petunia as Harry heard her footsteps walk away, followed by Vernon's, "and bring out the Port! This is a special occasion!"

_989, 988, 987, 986_...

Harry counted a couple of more numbers, not just to calm himself but to make sure they didn't walkout as he came out of the cupboard. He opened the door quickly so the hinges wouldn't have time to squeak, rolled off the trunk and onto the floor and quickly closed the cupboard door back up. Harry paused to listen for any footsteps then made his way up to his room like a speeding, silent cat. He zippered up the book bag and silently creeped downstairs. The lower he got, the louder the Dursley's laughter would get, and the more bitter Harry's face became.

_Worthless lot, the bunch of them. Family of Pigs and a Giraffe._

He was about to walk out the door, when Dudley's coat caught his eye. Harry smirked and took that as well. He would need it more than Dudley.

_Dudley doesn't need a coat anyway. All that blubber should be more than enough to keep Pig Boy warm._

Harry gave Number Four of Privet Drive one last grim smile before he walked out the door.

As Harry walked down the road an American muggle verse came to mind. He didn't know where he learned it from, but it kept going over and over in his mind.

_Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almightly, I'm free at last._

A/N: wow…..nearly six full pages for one chappie! @.@ That now sets the standard for it too. x.o Remember dearest readers, thou must reviewith or I die-ith! x.x


	2. Only A Little Farther

Disclaimer: Not a single wonderful character or place is mine. Notta. Nothin. Zilch. Zero - hm…zero…also happens to be the amount of money I have *hint-hint to lawyers*

A/N: @.@ I feel so loved….thank you all for your reviews. To me, it's a lot in so short a time. I did hurry with this chappie too! I swear!

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Gone Over

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Chapter Two: Only A Little Farther

~*~

Harry turned his head as he heard another car coming. Turning around, he started walking backwards with his arm sticking out, holding up his thumb. The car kept speeding by.

"D*mn muggles." he muttered under his breath.

He'd been trying to get a ride for the past three days, but not a single person had stopped. Harry hadn't even been able to get a decent place to sleep, not that the cupboard under the stairs could have ever been considered decent. He had found that he needed to resort to stealing in order to live, as he had no muggle money, and wizard money would be too easy to trace. Although he found that he preferred the term thieving, as stealing sounded so derogatory. Thieving had a somewhat mystic sound to it. Harry snorted. He sounded like a fantasy-loving muggle. The sound of another car coming reached his ears and he turned around and stuck his thumb out like he had so many times before.

Thankfully, this person stopped.

The vehicle was a truck, and an old one at that. It was an American Ford Pickup, or at least that's what Harry thought they were called. He had never really been allowed to watch TV and cars had never held a large part of his interest. Racing brooms, on the other hand…

It was a faded red colour, so it seemed as if it was a truck drawn on a side walk and filled in with red side-walk chalk. There was some old fishing gear in the back, a few boxes of bait, some poles, and the stench of fish was clear. A little too clear in Harry's mind. In the front seat was a kindly-looking old man, smiling politely at him. He had hair almost as white as Dumbledore's, expect for on the top, where he was bald. He wasn't all that wrinkled except for where his smile lines were.

__

He must have led a good life, to have so many smile-lines.

"I sooppose yoo need a ride then, don't yoo laddie." commented the old man in a heavy Scottish accent. Harry had only just understood his words. He nodded silently.

"Well then, laddie, go aroond and hop in!"

Smiling gratefully, Harry walked around to the other side of the car and got in. After revving up the engine a bit, the old man pulled back onto the road and began his drive once again.

"Heh, it may noot be much, but she get's me where I need too be." commented the old man, patting the dashboard of the old truck. Harry just smiled nervously and made a non-commital sound. He wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to act, as he had never been in this type of a situation before. They rode in a sort of awkward silence for a few minutes, pretending to admire the scenery going by.

"Soo, ah, doo yoo, um, hitch hike often aroond here?" asked the old Scot. Harry simply shook his head. He didn't feel like talking much at the moment.

"Oh, me name's Brian McDougal, laddie. Pleased too meet yoor acquaintance." Brian said, nodding towards Harry as a gesture of greeting as both his hands where on the steering wheel.

"Pleased to meet you too." Harry replied back, when he realized he had to give the old man, Brian, a name as well. He couldn't possibly give his real one, and Majesty Raethorp would be noticeably odd. Rushing his thoughts, Harry blurted out, "I'm James Evans." while inwardly cringing at, what was to him, stupidity at picking a name that to him had obvious connections with the name Harry Potter. This time it was Brian's turn to make a non-commital sound. They rode in a semi-comfortable, semi-awkward silence for a while. After a while, Harry had apparently lost track of the time, again, Brian spoke up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Harry said, snapping out his reverie. Brian chuckled.

"It's quite alright laddie. I was just asking yoo where yoo want too be dropped off. No offence, but I can't exactly have yoo riding with me foorever."

"Oh, right. Um, London, please. I'm headed to London." Harry wasn't entirely sure why he picked London of all places, close as it was to the Ministry of Magic, but as he thought about it, it would be a brilliant place to hide out. He would be close enough to the wizarding world to be able to keep a tab on what's going on and if he learned anything in the wizarding world, other than never piss of a Potions Master, it was that the Ministry would have the worst trouble catching something if it was right under their noses.

*~*

"James, James! Wake up, laddie! We're in London!" exclaimed Brian, shaking Harry's shoulder. Waking up groggily, Harry sat up and fixed his glasses while looking around. When he looked to his right his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He was about to ask Brian what the magnificent building before him was, but Brian answered before he could even form any words.

"That there is Buckingham Palace yoo're looking at James. The home of the British royal family it is. Doo yoo think yoo can find yoo're way from here?"

"Yes. Yes I can. Thank you very much, sir!" Harry exclaimed, quickly getting out of the car before he could feel guilty about not repaying the old Scot for his kindness. The old man grinned kindly at Harry.

"It's alright, laddie." he said knowingly, then he drove off around a corner. Harry stood staring after him on the corner, then turned his head to look at the massive Buckingham Palace.

"Wish I could have lived there." he muttered. Looking around, he wondered where he should go. He couldn't possibly go to the Leaky Cauldron, he would be recognized instantly.

"Maps! Maps for sale! Maps of good ol' London, right 'ere!" called a man down the sidewalk on Harry's left. He turned his head towards the shouting man.

"'Ello L'ttle Lady! 'Ow would you like to own a map of London, eh? Shows you all the great sites, it does! And the best places to stay! 'Ow about a map for you sir! Would you like a map of London, sir?" The Map Merchant, as Harry decided to call him, was talking to everyone he could see, and then some. Harry really needed a map, but he had not money for it. Well, not the right kind of money.

But there was one other way…

If he could just….and then maybe…yes, it could work. It had a good deal of working. London was a busy city so there were a lot of people who might see, but there were almost all muggles so the chances of his getting caught were very slim.

Now to put it in action.

Casually, yet speedily so he could be on the pretense of rushing, he walked toward the Map Merchant. Currently the Map Merchant had his back to him, which is just where Harry needed him to be. The closer he got the louder the Map Merchant got, and the more nervous Harry became. It was one thing to thieve from a small town store, but quite another to thieve right in front of Buckingham Palace in front of all the Royal Guard.

Harry reached his prechosen point and 'accidentally' bumped into the Map Merchant, quickly grabbing a map of London and stuffing it down the baggy pockets of his baggy pants.

"Sorry, mate, must've tripped over a crack or something." he said the Map Merchant.

"That's quite alright, sir! 'Ere! 'Ow would you like to buy a magnificent map of London!" the Map Merchant exclaimed, trying to sell Harry a map he already had, although the Map Merchant didn't know that.

"That's ok, I've got to be on me way! Bye!" Harry called while quickly walking away.

_Bye? Why in the name of Merlin did I say bye?_

Harry could still here the loud voice of the vender as he crossed the street and rounded the corner away from Buckingham Palace. After walking a few blocks away, he ducked into an alleyway, he opened the map and tried to get a grasp of where he was. Finding where he was he looked for where the Leaky Cauldron was. Harry sighed.

He needed money.

The only money he had was wizarding money, which did him no good in the muggle world.

He would have to somehow sneak into the Leaky Cauldron, without being recognized, walk around Diagon Alley, without being recognized, walk into Gringotts, without being recognized, and somehow get to his vault, open it, get money, and get half of it exchanged into muggle money. All this without being recognized and caught.

_D*mm*t, why do I have to be some d*mn recognizable in the d*mn wizarding world._

Harry was thinking bitter thoughts, cursing the Daily Prophet for printing his face so many times, cursing the text books for printing his name, and cursing Voldemort for being the cause.

And then he heard the tinkling of a bell, like when you walk into a store and the opening of the door sets of the bells.

Actually, it was a door.

It was the door of the convenient store across the street. It had three giant, glowing red letters on it that read CVS.

_Sounds American._

Stuffing the map back into his pocket, he stared at the store, trying to think of what he could do. It was a convenient store, so it would probably have a number of helpful things. A red double-decker bus drove by with an ad for some skin makeup on its side.

Makeup.

It would be, well, degrading, seeing as he was fully male, but he would never return to the Dursleys.

Never. Not ever.

And if it took makeup, then it took makeup.

_I'll be d*mned if I start walking around dressed like a woman. I'll just buy, er, thieve, that skin stuff that was on that ad._

Making his decision, Harry crossed the street and walked into the American store. Looking down the isles, he found the makeup section. He walked slowly down it, amazed that women could actually, _would_ actually use it all. He didn't know how they did it.

"May I help you?" asked the young female clerk. She was looking at Harry in an odd way, and the male clerk at the counter was sniggering behind his hand.

"I, er, it's my sister's birthday and she's, uh, turning thirteen and, um, my mum, she suggested makeup." Harry said.

_Good one, Harry, good one._

The female clerk looked relieved and turned around to give the male clerk a 'ha' kind of look. Turning back to Harry she asked, "What's you're sister's name?"

"Suzanne." said Harry, naming the first name he thought of.

_Suzanne? Where did that come from_…

"Suzanne? Really? What a coinkydink! That's my name too!"

_Coinkydink?_

"Alrighty then! What's her complexion? And her favourite colour. You definitely want to by her something that is her favourite colour." said Suzanne. This was obviously her favourite isle in the store.

"Er, well, we look a lot alike. People are always saying that if she were older we would have been twins. And her favourite colour is blue…and black." Harry added as an afterthought.

"Ah. Well then. Let's see what we've got here." Suzanne started walking down the isle looking between the bottles of cover up and Harry.

_What in the name of Godric Gryffindor are those khaki things that she's looking at? I don't think I've ever seen a female where those._

"Okay, I think this colour will go well with you're sister's complexion, providing its just like yours, like you say." Suzanne reached for two bottles of black and blue liquid, "And she'll want these as well. Girls _love_ to do their nails." Suzanne grabbed another something from the bottom shelf, "And _all_ girls love red lipstick." She handed a wide-eyed Harry the makeup.

_If this is what she's suggesting for a thirteen year old what would she give a sixteen year old? How do women get dressed in the morning, eat, **and** put all this crap on!? Women_…_I'll never understand them_…

It was then that Harry noticed that Suzanne was looking at him expectantly.

"Oh. Right. I didn't know women needed all this." he said, making Suzanne laugh.

"It's only because you're a man. Don't bother trying to figure us out, cutie. You never will." she said teasingly.

_Cutie? Oh dear Merlin_…

"Can I use the bathroom?" Harry asked on a sudden whim of inspiration.

"Yeah, sure. Just go all the way down this isle and make a left. You'll see a door at the end. That's the bathroom."

"Thank you."

"Here, I'll take your stuff up to the counter for you." 

Before Harry could even open his mouth to protest the makeup was gone from his hands and Suzanne was walking towards the counter.

_D*mn. She wasn't supposed to do that!_

Harry walked down the isle, noticing that there boxes of things he didn't recognize and probably didn't want to be able to recognize. Taking the left Suzanne told him to, he saw the bathroom door and walked in, noticing that the door didn't squeak when opened or closed. Turning on the lights he wrinkled his nose.

_Somebody hasn't been doing their job lately_…

Opening up his book bag, he took out his Invisibility Cloak. He had thought of using it before, but he wasn't sure if it could be detectable in any way when worn. It probably wasn't, but there was also the chance of an Auror on the lookout for him detecting him. Like Mad-Eye Moody, or worse yet, an unknown Death Eater.

Putting an ear at the door, he listened to hear if anyone was walking by. Hearing nothing, he slipped the Invisibility Cloak over him and opened the door a crack to make sure no one was watching. As far a he could see, there was no one. Slipping out, which proved more difficult than usual due to the book bag, he walked silently up to the counter where Suzanne and the male clerk were talking.

"How do you know he didn't lie to you? What if he really is gay?"

"He's not gay, John, he's just buying his little sister a birthday present. Like a _good_ brother. Besides, you're one to talk Mr. I-Like-To-Where-Black-Nail-Polish."

"I said I was sorry for missing you're birthday! I said I was sorry a million times! And there's nothing wrong with wearing black nail polish! Now that pink nail polish you're wearing, now that's a sin."

"And there's nothing wrong with buying your little sister a birthday present, either!"

_He's wearing black nail polish? And he's not gay? And I thought the wizarding world had strange cultures in it_…

Poising his hands above the counter, Harry quickly slammed them down and shouted, "BANG!"

The two clerks screamed and ducked while Harry rapidly grabbed the khaki stuff Suzanne had picked out and, as an afterthought, grabbed the black nail polish too.

_If a muggle man can get away with wearing it, then I guess I could too. And if worse comes to worse, I could use it as ink._

Harry walked over to the door as Suzanne started having hysterics and the 'ghost' that had just done something when the sun glinting off of metal caught his eye.

Glasses.

They were sitting on a counter that had a sign under it that read **LOST AND FOUND_._** There were only two frames. One silver and one gold.

_Slytherin and Gryffindor. Trelawney would consider it an omen._

Harry snorted at the thought of the North Tower Fraud. On an impulse, he grabbed those as well. The male clerk, John, had decided to look out the door, as if to try and see the 'ghost' that Suzanne so vehemently believes in now. Seeing his chance, Harry slipped out the door and crossed the street to go back into his alleyway. Once he had hidden himself behind a dumpster, he took off his Invisibility Cloak and swiftly stuffed it back into his book bag. Peeking out from behind the dumpster, he didn't see anyone looking and he walked out and joined the throng of people walking down the sidewalk.

He had been walking for about six blocks in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron when he saw the gas station in front of him. Walking into the front office he asked the attendant if it would be possible for him to use the bathroom, as it was an emergency. After having been given directions, he locked the bathroom door behind him after he had found it. He got the khaki stuff from his book bag and stared at it.

_What do women do with this?_

Desperate, he tried to recall anything from his memory about the khaki stuff when a commercial he had seen at Mrs. Figg's house that year she had let him watch TV. He remembered watching a beautiful model rub khaki looking lotion on certain spots on her face.

_Is that what women use this for? I don't think I ever saw Aunt Petunia with this stuff before._

With a sigh and a shrug of his shouders Harry opened the khaki bottle and poured some on the palm of his hand and smacked the centre of his palm to where his scar was. Removing his hand, he winced as he looked at the mirror.

_This is definitely not what it looks like on women._

Taking his other hand, Harry patted the place where his scar is, then decided to try a swirling motion. Eventually, he got it covered enough so it looked like his regular skin. Even though the khaki stuff was all over his forehead instead of just on his scar. He put the khaki bottle back in the book bag and got out the two glasses. Trying on the golden one first, he was a Gryffindor after all, he blinked rapidly and immediately took the glasses off.

_It's nice to know **someone** has worse eyesight than I do._

Putting the golden glasses back in his book bag, he took out the silver frames and put them on. They were just like his, better even, and so he thanked Merlin profusely. Flushing the toilet for effect, he left the bathroom and walked a few more blocks till he came to another alleyway that he knew to be near the Leaky Cauldron. He reversed his jacket and began making his way towards the pub in apprehension.

_Merlin above, please let me succeed and I'll never ask for Malfoy to be killed again, I swear._

A/N: Heh, I finally got this chappie out! During the last couple pages CSI was on so it took me longer than it should have. But it's out so now you have to review!!! If you don't review I will die and so will the story. x.x

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Thank You's

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ADJ: Thank you so muchly for your review!! And don't worry, Harry's not going to be giving up on magic any time soon! Not if I have my way…

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Frog: Gah! I can't answer those questions yet!!! That would destroy my whole idea! x.o

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Hedwig: Thank you muchly, though I hope I didn't make you're brain hurt. @.@ Mine tends to do that when I concentrate on something for so long! ^^;; I found her majesty parrot too and had to pause for a while because I found it so funny. But then again, I was on a sugar high at the same time….

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Skull Bearer: I've made it to someone's favourites already? Wow…I feel loved…

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littlegoth: its here its here its here

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kateydidnt: Thank you muchly! I feel so loved now…

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ER: He's not necessarily running from the magic world. Well, he is…but not forever. I think Harry loves magic too much to cut himself off from it forever, don't you? And that's not a bad idea either….hmm…

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ChibiYuffie: hee! Final Fantasy VII kicks! *ahems* just had to say that, sorry. Thank you muchly!

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'Mes: I had no idea so many people would review so quickly! @.@ You love me, you really love me! ^_^

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Jessy: I wish I could be the next J.K Rowling! Heck, I wish I was J.K Rowling…

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Rhiannon Snape: *clamps hands over mouth* will - not - give - secrets!!! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the name Rhiannon also the name of a Horse Goddess that also went by the name Epona?

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Melissa Lupin: Thank you muchly! ^_^

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Asellus: Gah!! I can't say what will happen! *clamps hands over mouth and speaks in muffled voice* I'm not saying nothing.

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-_-: *pants* working *pants* as fast as *huffs* I can….really…I…swear…

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Pinkdevil: I hope I didn't get you in trouble. o.o Please…no sue….


	3. Almost Like Being Born Again

Disclaimer: I'll I own are what you don't recognize. And sometimes maybe not even that.

A/N: _I SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!! *bows* I apologize profusely for taking so long!!! Between Drama, Term Papers, Group History Research Projects, Group projects, Teen Arts Festival (which is this Thursday @.@), drawing, and writing my book (wow, that's a lot o'stuff there_…_) I had very little time to do anything. I SORRY!!! *bows*_

I also noticed that fanfiction.net didn't post all of my thank yous, so this is a reposting. Dun yell at me!! u.u

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Gone Over

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Chapter Three: Almost Like Being Born Again

~*~

Harry kept his head down as he walked in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. He kept glancing sideways to see if anyone recognized him

_Geez, I'm getting so paranoid. Next thing I know, I'll be like Mad-Eye Moody. Now there's a scary thought._

He rounded a corner and caught sight of the famous wizarding pub when he remembered, again, that he needed a name. The muggle world might not see the connections between Harry Potter and James Evans, but the wizarding world would. Harry slowed down as he saw two girls walking towards him.

_Oh crap._

"Isn't he just gorgeous!" exclaimed one of the girls in an American accent.

"I know. I believe we're going to see Robbie Winter in a _live _play! I didn't even know he did live plays!" exclaimed the other, also in an American accent.

"If this play is half as good as his movies…" the first one trailed off. They both sighed as they walked past Harry and continued to gush about Robbie Winter. Harry shook his head and continued walking.

_Bloody Amer - _

Of course.

Americans.

They won't be expecting Harry Potter to try and pose as an American. Or should I say they won't be expecting a Robbie Winter to walk into Diagon Alley?

"Yo dude." Harry said quietly, trying to mimic the American accent that he hear from those girls. It still sounded slightly British, but after saying it a few more times, Harry discovered that mimicking came very easily to him. By the time he had reached the door to the Leaky Cauldron he had successfully mimicked an Irish accent, a French accent, and a German accent to go along with his American one.

_If I wasn't born a wizard, I'd go on to pursue a career in acting._

Harry took a quick, deep breath and nervously opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron. He noticed that a lot of the customers would look at him and then do a double take. He let out a sigh he hadn't realized he was holding. They didn't recognize him. Well, they did recognize him, but then they thought that they didn't. And that was exactly what Harry wanted them to do.

He started to walk by the counter to get to Diagon Alley when he heard the last name he wanted to hear shouted out.

"Harry Potter!?"

_Keep walking, keep walking. If you turn around now, you'll blow you're cover for good._

"Harry!? Is that you?" Tom asked putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry turned around and looked at Tom, faking innocent confusion.

"Harry?" Tom repeated as Harry saw him scan his forehead for his trademark scar.

"No, I'm Robbie Winter." He said with an American accent. Judging by the look he saw on Tom's face, he succeeded in fooling the bartender.

"Sorry, sir. I thought you were someone else," Tom apologized and went back to work, "False alarm! It's not Harry!" he called out to the on looking customers. They went back to their mead and cognac. Harry turned around and walked towards the brick wall that would lead him into Diagon Alley. Smirking, he took out his wand and opened the pathway. With far more confidence then when he walked into the Leaky Cauldron, Harry walked through Diagon Alley without bothering to lower his head. Most people didn't even bother to glance at him, and those who did just walked right on as if he were just another wizard.

Harry was thrilled.

Key word, being was.

As Harry was turning his head to look over at the stores, one of the last people he wanted to see appeared in the corner of his eye.

Lucius Malfoy.

The blonde aristocrat was sauntering down the street, towards Harry, as if he owned the place, and he probably did in his mind. The closer the Death Eater got, the more nervous Harry became. Lucius was second-in-command to the Dark Lord Voldemort and was not one to be fooled so easily.

Budabump, budabump, budabump…

What was that noise? Where was it coming from? Harry started to sweat a little, that noise was bothering him.

_Oh_…_wait_…_that's my heartbeat, isn't it_…_well that deserves a Darwin Award_…

The older Malfoy was only a few yards away from him now.

Harry's heart began to beat even faster. Lucius might recognize him. Then his cover might be blown! Or maybe - 

_Oh no._

Lucius Malfoy looked directly at Harry Potter.

_Please oh please let it just be a glance. Merlin above all, let it just be a glance!_

Lucius Malfoy looked away - 

_Thank you Merlin!_

- and did the barest of double takes and walked on.

_Crap. He knows. He has to now._

Nervously, Harry continued walking, his eyes darting to every shadowed corner, every laugh he heard.

_Great. Now I'm paranoid_…_again_…

After what seemed like an hour but couldn't have been more than a few seconds, Harry reached Gringotts. Nervously, the black haired boy walked into the wizarding bank, his eyes darting to too many places too quickly to possibly pass off as natural. As Harry was thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong he froze mid-step and yet quickly recovered so as a result he nearly tripped over his own two feet. He smiled sheepishly at the people who looked at his sudden movement.

_How in the world am I going to get into my Gringott's account!?_

Harry put his hands into his pockets only to come in contact with a piece of paper. It felt very soft, as if it had been in the wash too many times, and he hadn't noticed it before. He took it out and opened it to find it was a letter from Sirius, the one he had gotten way back at the end of his Third Year on the way home from Hogwarts. The ink, being of magical origin, was still as clear as day. Harry reread the letter mainly out of nostalgia, when a particular part stuck out for him.

__

"There is something I never got around to telling you 

during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt 

-- Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. 

I used your name but told them to take the 

gold from my own Gringott's vault."

It was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Harry had never been more thankful for Sirius in his life. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but it was close. Silently thanking Sirius for unwittingly helping him, Harry suddenly remembered Professor Lupin, his favourite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The only good one, good in both senses of the word, Hogwarts had in a long time.

_Remus and Sirius. As close as brothers._

Brothers…

__

Wasn't there a myth about to brothers? Named Remus…_and Romulus?_

Harry smirked inwardly at his ever surprising brilliance. Robbie Winter might be a little too traceable, so why not take on another alias? Romulus…Romulus Lupin. True, it might connect him to Remus…but the risk would be worth it. Besides, it might not be as suspicious if a Lupin got some money from Harry Potter's vault.

Harry walked up to the counter with a little bit more confidence.

"I'd like to make a withdrawal from Mr. Potter's account please. My name is Romulus Lupin." Harry asked politely, gathering up the best of his raw acting skills. The desk goblin looked at him suspiciously for so long that Harry thought he knew and wasn't going to let him in his vault.

"Do you have his key?" the goblin finally asked.

"Yes." Harry answered, quickly showing the desk goblin his key.

"Very well. Griphook!"

_Why do I always end up getting Griphook?_

Griphook appeared as quickly as goblins do and led Harry to the familiar doors that led down to the labyrinth of vaults. It was a silent cart ride down to his vault. For a few moments, Harry was able to let his mind go free of his worries as the wind flew past his face. Then the cart ride stopped and all his worries came back once more.

After Griphook opened the vault Harry walked in and quickly decided how much to get. He got a little less than he usually got for his wizarding funds, and then got a large enough amount that he hoped would be good enough for muggle funds, as Harry didn't know what the currency exchange was. He put all his money in various pockets and was thankful for once that Dudley was so much bigger than him. Hand-me-down pants from Dudley meant bigger pockets to put things in. Harry was about to get back into the cart when Griphook spoke to him.

"Your mother was always good to us, Harry Potter."

Harry looked at the goblin in disbelief.

"W-what? What are you talking about? I'm not Harry Potter! I'm Robbie Lupin! Er, wait, I mean, Romulus Winter! No, I - "

Griphook simply raised a long-fingered goblin hand and Harry immediately went silent.

"Your mother never cared about what people thought of her actions, Harry Potter, and treated those who were oft scorned with kindness. She was one of the few humans we ever liked."

At this, Griphook simply got back into the cart without another word. Harry stared at him, stunned, until he realized that Griphook was waiting for him to get back in. It was another silent cart ride back to the common sector of the vast bank. As Harry was walking towards the Money Exchange area, he suddenly turned around and looked back at Griphook. More meaning than is in words were expressed in but a few seconds right then. 

Once Harry made it to the Money Exchange counter he replaced his wizarding money with muggle ones, which came to about £ 278, he started walking towards the exit when an ahem from the goblin at the desk made him stop and turn around.

"We will keep your secret" he said brusquely. For the moment, Harry was stunned speechless, but he quickly recovered.

"Thank you." he replied gratefully. It was nice to know that you have some allies in the world.

As Harry departed from Gringotts, he gave a sigh of relief and walked back down Diagon Alley. He had never been more nervous about anything in his life, not even when he and Hermione had to take Norbert to the tallest tower or when he had to take his first Potion's Exam.

Harry picked up his pace a tad as he got closer to the Leaky Cauldron. The faster he got out of the wizarding world, the harder it would be for him to be found. At least until the start of the term when he would come back and board the Hogwarts Express. 

Just for the sake of looking around, Harry turned his head to his left and noticed that it was the alleyway that led to Knockturn Ally. He remembered Hagrid all but dragging him out of the area. Harry Potter wouldn't be safe in Knockturn Ally, with so many dark wizards and witches running about.

But then, he wasn't Harry Potter at the moment.

He was Robbie Winter or Romulus Lupin. Whichever came out of his mouth first.

Why not go in? This time he would have a chance to really look around and see what was there. Besides, no one would _ever_ dream of the Boy-Who-Lived going into Knockturn Alley. Harry made up his mind and turned to go into Knockturn Ally when one of the last voices he wanted to hear spoke.

"Potter? Is that you?"

Draco Malfoy was standing right behind him.

_Stupid git always did have the worst possible timing. For me anyway._

"Botter? Sorry, I'm Robbie Winter." replied Harry calmly in an American accent. Draco would have recognized the name Lupin, so Harry went with his American alias instead. Harry smirked inwardly as he noticed Draco's eyes flicker up to his forehead to see if his signature lightening bolt scar was there.

_I now understand why women wear make-up and I will never make fun of them for it again. They are saints for inventing this stuff!_

Draco gave Harry his customary sneer and walked away from Harry muttering something that sounded like, "Just another wannabe-wizard Yank."

Letting a small grin show across his face, Harry decided that maybe it would be better for him to go to Knockturn Alley another time. Leaving Diagon Alley, he walked through the Leaky Cauldron, Tom barely even giving him a glance. He stood outside of the Leaky Cauldron, wondering what he should do next.

_First things first. I need a place to stay. Well, I've got money, so I'll use it!_

Walking to the nearest bus stop, Harry got on the bus and sat there for a while, looking out the window. It was quite enjoyable for him, as Harry had never gotten a chance to see much of the scenes of muggle London. When the bus stopped for maybe the sixth time, Harry had lost track, he noticed a 'NEED HELP' sign in the window of a building that appeared to be part coffee shop part bookstore. He had money now but he didn't know how long it would last. Getting off the bus, he went through the doors and up to the counter.

"Be with you in a minute!" a girl with black hair and red tips called out to him as she rushed by. Taking the chance to look around, Harry saw that there were a lot of artsy-looking people around, along with a lot of punk-looking people and a few goths as well. Turning back to the counter he noticed one of those rolly address book things, he couldn't remember what they were called. The name Caraway was all that was visible.

"So how can I help you?" asked the girl, coming back to him, "Sorry for the wait."

"It's alright. I noticed that you had a 'need help' sign in the window and would like to - " Harry began.

"Oh would you take the job? The last guy was too judgemental and not many people want to work in a bookstore, even though the Dark Sun also doubles as a coffee shop. My name's Cassandra, by the way, but everyone calls me Cassie. I'm the manager here."

Harry grinned. Muggles had their charms at times.

"Sure. I'm Robbie Caraway," he replied, using the name on the address card, "but I'm still looking for an apartment so I don't know if - "

"Are you really? That's perfect!"

"It…is?"

"Yes! There's a room across the hall from my apartment that I also rented with my room mate. Me mate left for Oxford so now I'm stuck paying this huge rent!"

"Are you serious?"

"Completely. Here, stick your book bag and coat back here and I'll get you started. You'll start in the book section first, that'll be easiest. And when we close I'll take you to the apartment! Okay?"

"Sure!" Harry replied. He stuck his stuff in a back room and followed Cassie to the bookstore end.

_I'm **almost** thankful to the Dursley's for putting me into this position. Almost._

A/N: _Mwahahaha! A cliffie!! Dun-dun-dunnn. I had to end it here because I'm supposed to be doing homework. o.o;; Shhh!! I won't tell if you don't! XD Please-ith review-ith or I die-ith and so will the story! x.x_

PS - It has occurred to my while checking the story that some people may take me as British. I am not. I am fully American and proud of it. I have a habit of using British slang and I just wanted the story to be more realistic so I used pounds. So for all my British readers, is 278 a large enough amount of pounds? I just guessed. 

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Thank You's

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ER: Thank you muchly for your reviewing! Emperor TJ Tharasy? I didn't find that one o.o;;

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Amiastine:He left all his stuff at Privet Drive because he couldn't carry it all. He's still too young to use magic outside of school, the poor bloke.

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Me: Ta muchly!

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Lady Russell Holmes: I'm glad I made you laugh! :P

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Lady Macbeth: Well, I just figured its polite to recognize your readers, you know? And no, I'm not Scottish. I'm an American!! :D

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escaped psycho: Yeah, I did realize it was going pretty slow, sorry. I have a fixation with details! ^^;;

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Digital Darknezz: I canna tell you what I gonna do with him!! XD

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Shadowsofpain: Ta very muchly. And you're right, I don't have to answer! XP

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PinkDevil: Oh good, me glad. Hakuna Matata, I tell not! XP Here it is!

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'Mes: Yes, it is Harry's Slyth side coming out. I will say that much!

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UniversalStar87: I will! But I'll be working on my book more than my fanfiction!

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Ms. Issues: *holds hands over mouth* I will not say spoilers!!!

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Broken Angel: Really? No others? Yay! I'm original! *throws confetti*

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LadySonics: I like muggle characterization, too. I canna say what will happen!! I not a spoiler!!! You're favourites? Wow…I feel loved…o.o

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Melissa Lupin: *sniggers* XD yesyes…funny stuff, funny stuff…

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dementorchic: Did this chappie help your understanding any?

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Kat Riddle: Here it is! I hurried! Honest!

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NiaSphinx: Ta very muchly!

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tima: I canna say anything! :P

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Lady Phoenix Gryffindor: *sniggers* It does, doesn't it? I wonder why…

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Immortal Dragon: Ta very muchly!

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Phoenix Flight: Ta very muchly! Cute rhyme!! XD

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Caroline Hal: Ta muchly! You're lucky. You didn't have long to wait! XD


	4. What's Yours Is Mine

Disclaimer: All things recognizable belong to the literary goddess, J.K. Rowling, Bram Stoker (you'll see), and Konami.  
  
A/N: bows Sorry! So very very very sorry! Too long, I take! But it is here! It is here! See? points down  
  
Gone Over  
  
Chapter Four: What's Yours is Mine  
  
Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry was finally able to kick off his shoes and plop down onto his bed. Cassie was practically a slave driver - when she told you to do a job, you did that job and you did it well. Rolling onto his back, Harry absently noticed that he heard the shower going.  
When Cassie had said the room across the hall, Harry had thought she was referring to the apartment complex hallway. Instead, the layout of the apartment was thus: the first rooms you see are the kitchen to the right and the dining room to the left. There is a hallway that separates the two and continues straight through the apartment itself. That was the hallway Cassie had been refering to. On opposite sides of the hallway were two living rooms the led to a bedroom, respectively. At the very end of the hallway were two bathrooms, thank Merlin.  
Getting up from his restful position on his bed, Harry walked over to the dresser to get his wand that was hidden within one of his drawers. He simply held it in his hands, feeling the warm tingling of the magic held within. He longed to return to the magical world, back to Hogwarts - but he couldn't. He couldn't re-emerge until September first, when he would board the Hogwarts Express in less than a week. What would he tell Cassie? Absently, he wondered if anyone would recognize him with his hair in spikes, as Cassie vehemently insisted he do.  
Speaking of Cassie, Harry noticed the shower sounds had ended.  
"Hey Robbie!" Cassie yelled, knocking on the wall from the other side, "you awake?"  
"If I wasn't before, I certainly am now!"  
"Good! Come into the kitchen for a sec! I need you!"  
Harry frowned. Cassie never needed him in the kitchen. If anything, Cassie never let him in the kitchen. They always ate either on her couch or his. Placing his wand back in its hidden place, Harry walked into the kitchen wary of what might come next. Cassie, although responsible, was very spontaneous.  
Like the time she decided to go to the opera...dressed as if she was from the time period of the opera.  
Or when she decided that maybe it would be fun to put five stray cats on the floor below them.  
And lets not forget the time she decided to hold a party at the Dark Sun...at three in the morning.  
Bringing his mind back to the present, Harry instantly got a confused look on his face. There was a chair in front of the sink with a towel draped on it, and three cans on the table. Looking at Cassie, he narrowed his eyes.  
"What are you up to?" he asked suspiciously. Grinning with obvious mischief, Cassie grabbed the three cans and one by one, held them up to Harry's hair.  
"Cassie, what are you doing?"  
"I'm trying to decide which hair colour would look best with your jet black, that's all."  
"That's all?"  
"Yep!"  
"Of course, my opinion on getting my hair dyed has no matter in this at all."  
"Nope. None at all. Which colour do you like better, Robbie, silver or white?"  
"Neither, and stop trying to change - "  
"Pick one."  
"Not before - "  
"Pick one!"  
"Fine then! Um, white!"  
"Finally! Really now, you men take so long to do something as simple as pick a hair colour."  
"Silver isn't a hair colour," Harry pointed out.  
"That's not the point! Now c'mere and sit down!"  
Cassie didn't give Harry a chance to protest. The next thing he knew was that Cassie was running warm water and her hands through his hair.  
"What are you gonna do to me?"  
"Give you white tips."  
"Why?"  
"Because it would look cool with your spikes."  
"I'm sure."  
"You're so sarcastic."  
"Of course I am."  
"See?"  
"No."  
"Shut up."  
"Ac-"  
"Shut up. I'm nearly finished...almost...there! Voila!"  
Cassie pulled the towel away and Harry stood up, rubbing his neck and cracking his back.  
"Well? Go take a look!"  
Walking into the hallway, Harry stopped at the mirror. He had to admit, the hair didn't look to bad. It didn't look too bad at all.  
"It's...pretty alright..." he told Cassie when he returned, reluctant to admit she was right. Cassie just laughed.  
"That means you think it's awesome, doesn't it!"  
"Well - "  
"Ha! It does!" she exclaimed, then in a sing-song voice said, "I told you so! I told you so!"  
Harry mock-glared at her. Cassie had a tendency to be, well, right.  
"Oh, it's you're turn to get the groceries, by the way," Cassie said when she was half way out of the kitchen.  
"What! Come on, Cassie, I did it last time!"  
"No way, Robbie. You aren't getting out of it this time."  
"But I worked so hard today!" Robbie exclaimed, feigning exhaustion as he collapsed into a chair, "It - it's inhuman to make a man go to the grocery store!" Cassie snickered from the doorway.  
"No." she told him and began to walk towards her room.  
Robbie immediately stoped his pretending and called out, "Slave- driver!" He heard Cassie's laugh from down the hallway. "What's keeping you from going yourself anyway!"  
Cassie's hand appeard in the doorway holding something.  
"Dracula? You're reading that again!?"  
"What? It's a brilliant piece of literature! Besides, you need to show off you're new style."  
Harry glowered at Cassie's smirking face as he grabbed his coat, a black trench that Cassie had refused to let him leave the store without, and opened the door.  
"Robbie!" Cassie called out.  
"Changed you're mind?" he asked hopefully.  
"No. You forgot the keys."  
"Oh." Harry grabbed the keys to the apartment as Cassie tried desperately to smother her laughter. "Bugger off you bloody wank." He told her only half-heartedly as he walked out the door.  
  
Harry fumbled with the keys as the two grocery bags balanced precariously on top of his leg.  
"Shit!" he swore as he dropped the keys. Setting the bags down he reached for the keys - then stopped. His hand seemed to be frozen in mid- air and his body was tense with alertness. After having faced Death many times and continuously walking away from it, he discovered he was now able to tell when something wrong was about to happen.  
His head jerked up as Cassie's piercing scream split the air.  
Of course, one time I don't want to be right. Why me?  
Standing up quickly, Harry jammed the key into the door, attempting to be quiet and quick at the same time. The door burst open and the first thing that Harry sees is red.  
Blood.  
Cassie's blood.  
Cassie was lying on the floor, a pool of blood surrounding her while slowly, yet steadily growing.  
A man stood over her, a bloody knife clutched in his hand.  
Cassie...  
Harry had felt rage before. He had been furious at the Dursley's, but that was fury for himself. Now he was enraged for Cassie.  
Very enraged.  
It all seemed very strange, it was like he was watching a weird movie about himself. There was Cassie, lying on the floor, him, apparently beating the crap out of the attacker.  
There was a lot of red. All he could see is red. Then spots of black and blue, but mostly red. Then all at once everything seemed to snap back into place. Harry dropped the unconscious invader, realizing what he had been doing. He rushed over to Cassie and cradled her head in his lap.  
"Cassie..." he whispered, her laboured breathing echoing loudly in his ears. Hot tears poured down his cheeks. Slowly, Cassie lifted a shaking hand and placed it against his cheek.  
"Please, don't die on me..." he said softly. Cassie gave him one last small smile, full of both laughter and sadness at the sametime, and looked at him with confidence in her eyes.  
Unexpectedly, the weight the was pressed against his cheek was gone even as the light that always shone so brightly in Cassie's eyes went out.  
"No....NO!!!!" Harry cried out as he wept, still holding Cassie in his arms. Moments passed, Harry didn't know how long - he didn't care how long. He looked at Cassie again, the tears still fresh on his cheeks. A small, sad smile appeared on his face when he saw that she had still been clutching her book. He took it and opened it up to the place she had marked when something caught his eye.  
One of the words had been circled - with Cassie's blood.  
Necromancy.  
Necromancy. Isn't that a Dark Art that...that brings people back from the dead! But why would...  
Standing up quickly, an idea raced through Harry's head. If he could get into Knockturn Alley quickly enough...  
Grabbing one of Cassie's bandana's that had been lying on the kitchen table, Harry tied up the unconscious man. Grabbing his wand, coat, and wizarding money, he all but ran out the door; he was lucky enough to have the bus arrive right when he walked out of the building. Getting on, he sat towards the back of the bus, glowering at any who dared to look at him.  
Upon reaching the Leaky Cauldron, he burst through the door, not caring if he caused any form of commotion. He noticed with grim satisfaction that everyone gave him wary looks and stayed clear of him. Even Tom didn't look at him.  
Taking out his wand, Harry tapped the familiar bricks and paced impatiently as the archway to Diagon Alley opened slowly. As he entered the wizarding place he noticed that a lot of students were there and vaguely remembered that he had to leave in less than a week. Turning down Knockturn Alley, he swiftly looked for a bookstore that might sell what he was in need of.  
Then he found it, the "Booke Shoppe de Noir".  
Sounds promising.  
He entered and saw that the books were in alphabetical order. He smiled grimly and headed towards the 'N' section.  
Be here, oh please be here...  
Skimming as fast as he could, he very nearly missed it. It was old, like most of the books in the store, but the letters on the spine were faded almost to unrecognizability. Grabbing it, he went up to the clerk.  
"Necromancion?" he asked silkily, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah," Harry replied shortly.  
"As you wish, young master," the clerk took the money and placed the book in a bag, "Have a nice day," he told Harry, sounding not at all as if he meant it.  
Leaving the store hastily, Harry whipped around the corner and made his way back to Diagon Alley. He was so absorbed in his thoughts and hopes that he almost didn't see Hermione and Ron enter Diagon Alley.  
For a moment he just stood frozen to the spot. It had been so long since he had seen or even spoken to them. He knew they were worried, he could see it plain as day on their faces. But he couldn't go to them, not yet. He had to save Cassie, and he didn't think he could stand going to Grimmauld Place now that Sirius had -.  
Sirius.  
Cassie.  
Necromancy...of course!  
Getting his head together again he ducked into a shadowed area, grinning wickedly. He could get Cassie and Sirius back. He was feeling a little bit better now, he thought.  
"Do you think Harry's okay?" Hermione asked Ron as they walked by Harry.  
"Sure he is, this is Harry we're talking about!" Ron put his arm around Hermione, "After last year, and You-Know-Who, what, five times now? He'll survive. He always does." Ron replied, his voice fading as he walked away with Hermione.  
Harry smiled sadly as he watched his two friends walk away. Then remembering what he had to do he raced back to the apartment  
  
After quickly locking the door behind him, Harry sat on the floor next to Cassie, careful not to sit in any of the blood. He noticed that it was beginning to clot a little bit, and wondered if that meant that time was running out for calling her back. Opening the book, he was relieved, though more than a little bemused to find a table of contents in the beginning. He skipped the first five chapters and went straight to Chapter Six: Raising the Dead for the First Time. He could already hear Hermione's voice chiding him.  
"You shouldn't just go straight to the spell you know. If you don't read the whole thing, you might miss something important."  
His lips twitched at the thought, but then he frowned. No, he couldn't tell Hermione about this. There was no way she could understand. Ron, either. Bringing himself back to the task at hand, he began to read.  
  
If you have been born as a Necromancer, then there is no nead  
for you to read this chapter. You know it all and may proceed  
to Chapter Twelve. Go on, stop reading now.  
As for those of you who are doing this for the first time,  
you should know what equipment you need by now -  
  
Equipment? There was eqiupment?  
  
- may begin the preperations of the dead body and the sacrifice  
-  
  
Sacrifice? What sacrifice?  
  
- if you were idiotic enough to skip the first five chapters  
(you twit) here's a basic rerun, which can only be read if you  
haven't read the first five chapters (and I tell you again,  
reader, you are a twit for doing so and strongly suggest you go  
back. Death isn't a plaything). Since you didn't read the  
first five chapters, you do not have the proper tools. This  
makes the summoning less garunteed. You will need to rely far  
more strongly upon your will then anything. First, get a knife,  
preferably the cermonial and if not that, then a silver knife  
and if not that, just a plain knife, but again I tell you, it  
will be more difficult (for future reference, it doesn't have to  
be a knife but they do tend to be easier to carry around. A  
Necromancer never leaves their knife/sword/dagger/blade  
unattended). Put your victim (unless you are born as a  
Necromancer, you must kill someone for your first summoning, at  
least. Most non-born Necromancers must kill for every  
summoning. You would know this and more had you read the first  
five chapters you twit) -  
  
Harry took a pause to drag the attacker and place him next to Cassie. He stirred but a little, and yet it still made Harry extremely nervous.  
  
- and stand with the person you want to raise in front of you. -  
  
Harry started to stand up when he remembered that he needed a knife. He carefully put the book down, making sure he wasn't going to lose his place, and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Coming back, he picked up the book and stood in front of Cassie's now becoming stiff body.  
  
- No hold the knife with both hands and hold it over the victim.  
While you say the words (which will be given to you soon, have  
patience) and slowly bring up the knife. Be careful now, there  
is a certain pace that you must use (which you would know if you  
read the first five chapters you twit) and the diagrams cannot  
be placed here, so you better have good instict - you don't want  
Death to suck you into its shadowy voids, do you? -  
  
Shadowy voids? Wizards could be so overdramatic sometimes.  
  
- Now I hope you are ready, for after you finish speaking the  
words, you must thrust the blade into the heart of the victim.  
Here are the words: Keja sa pylg dra cuim dryd oui'ja dygeh. Ed  
pamuhkc du sa!  
  
Harry muttered the words quickly under his breath, memorizing them, which proved to be much more difficult than Dumbledore's password into Grimmauld Place. Once he was sure he had it memorized he set down the book and clasped his hands around the kitchen knife, just as it started to thunder outside.  
"Bloody hell," he muttered, rolling his eyes, "it just had to be cliché, didn't it..." He sighed in slight annoyance and cleared his throat. Slowly raising the blade up, he said, "Keja sa pylg dra cuim dryd oui'ja dygeh. Ed amuck du sa!" he then slammed the knife into the attacker's chest.  
He barely had time to jump at the loud, cliché thunder when everything went cold and dark. Instinctively he tensed, believing a dementor to be near until he realized that he wasn't hearing his mother's scream. Opening his mouth to say 'Where am I?', he immediately closed it again, thinking it both cliché and stupid in case something dangerous was about. Slowly, everything came into sight - but different. Nothing was clear, it was all blurred. Even when he looked down at his own hand, it was blurry.  
And for some reason, he had suddenly gone colour-blind.  
There was absolutely no colour; it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. Including his first meeting with Fluffy.  
Then he saw it.  
It looked like a ghost, but solid. It was clear, unlike everything else around him. Cassie's...spectre was coming toward him.  
"I knew you'd do it," the spectre told him in an uncannily crystal clear voice.  
"Cassie?" he asked, finding it difficult to take in what he was seeing, "Do what?"  
"Call for me. Come for me. You do want me back, don't you?"  
"Yes, yes, I want you back, that's why I did this."  
"More."  
"What?"  
"More. You need to call me more. This is as far as I can go, unless you're will becomes stronger. Even now, it becomes...difficult to...talk..."  
Closing his eyes, Harry concentrated harder than he had ever concentrated before. He was only vaguely aware that he was beginning to get a headache. Opening eyes again, he gasped. The blurry, shadow-like place was gone. He was standing over the two bodies, the knife plunged in the attacker's heart.  
"Cassie, Cassie!" he yelled, shaking the girl gently. Slowly she stirred. "Cassie," he whispered, disbelieving his eyes.  
Cassie's eyes fluttered open to find Harry's concerned face looming over her.  
"I knew it." she told him.  
"Knew what?" he asked.  
"That you were special."  
"What are talking - "  
"Stop playing games with me Harry. I know you've got gifts. I'm an Empath."  
Harry looked at her blankly.  
"I am neither witch nor muggle. I sense what people feel. I accidently wandered into Diagon Alley once..." she trailed off, remembering that odd day. Harry blinked rapidly at her.  
"I'm sorry, but all of the sudden you're telling me all this stuff and - " Cassie put a weak finger to his lips, silently telling him to be quiet.  
"You talk too loud," she told him, her eyes now half-closed.  
"You need you're rest," Harry told her, "let's get you to bed. We'll talk about this in the morning."  
Carefully, Harry picked the newly raised girl and took her to her bedroom.  
"Sleep well," he whispered to an already sleeping Cassie. As he walked away, however, he heard her voice.  
"Harry?" she called out.  
"Yes?"  
"Don't leave me."  
Harry walked back over to Cassie who, once again, was asleep. Seeing that there were no chairs and the floor looked dreadfully uncomfortable, he halfheartedly lie alongside Cassie. Just as he was closing his eyes, he felt Cassie's still cool hand grab his. When he looked over, she had a small smile on her face.  
"Women," he muttered, shaking his head, as darkness consumed him again.  
  
TA-DAAAA!!!! It's finally here! And longer than the other chapters as well, so you better be happy! I didn't want to end it there, but I need sleep. Jet lag plus a total of three hours worth of sleep isn't something that makes you dance around singing happy happy joy joy. "Keja sa pylg dra cuim dryd oui'ja dygeh. Ed pamuhkc du sa!" means "Give me back the sould that you've taken. It belongs to me!" And the thanks goes to...  
  
Yoshi-fan2003: heh, sorry I took so long...  
  
Remmy: you know what, he probably would, too...I wonder if all British think that...  
  
ER: sorry I took long. I sort of did the blonde thing...think of it as...very very white blonde, eh? SORRY I TAKE SO LONG!!!!  
  
'Mes: Thank you for the tip 'bout pounds! Good thing he got a job, eh? And yes, Lucius does suspect. I guess it comes with being a Death Eater...shrugs  
  
Pinkdevil: again, sorry I didn't hurry! Yes, we Americans have accents...to everyone else! snickers  
  
glimmer: thank you muchly for the compliment. I'm trying me best, how am I doing so far (for the keeping in character bit)  
  
Rix: You're faves? I feel loved! As for being evil...I canna tell you that!  
  
NiaSphinx: sorry I took so long, but hey, it's here!  
  
maria: no, he couldn't use an anto-trace charm cuz then they would notice that!  
  
Phoenix Flight: you're mum's a children's author? Cool. Hope you know what date it is now!  
  
Ms. Issues: Ta muchly! I don't know what I'll make him...I wanna keep him in character though...  
  
Hermione71089: Ta muchly!  
  
Kim13: I might...you never know...  
  
Naomi SilverWolf: Ta muchly!  
  
Maria: Sorry...will fix that...prolly next chappie...  
  
LittleMiss2: Ta muchly!  
  
BeeAyeElle: Ta muchly! I'll probably change that very soon. Gotta make it right, after all!  
  
Brianna3: Thankies! I feel so gawsh-durned woved! .  
  
serapotter: Thank you! Sorry I took so long... looks sheepish  
  
Becca: Well, technically I did what you asked, just not very quickly...  
  
WithAPenInHerHand: Ta muchly! bows  
  
ROGUE-sorceress: Actually, I'm doing both. I have a basic plot up in my mind, but a lot of it I make up as I go along. Like the muggles thinking Harry was a ghost in Chapter Three, I didn't know that was going to happen 'til I wrote, well, typed, it out. And yeah...'tis been way over a month...sorry...  
  
Nabiki: um...right now?  
  
npetrenko: Slowly I work, but it gets here! Hey, it was the tortoise who won the race y'know...(lol)  
  
sd1202: that it is, that it is...  
  
Ami: I don't really know. Tricksy little Goblinses, they are, and very smart ones, too. Who knows what they know? They could be watching right now...  
  
Party Girl2: erm...well...hmm....yesh...yesh he is...please, no get angry!! :b  
  
Jess16: ta muchly! I thought the Giraffe and Pigs was very...ah...complementary myself...snickers 


	5. Importance

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter and Co., do you think I would be writing fan fiction about it?

_A/N: I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! bows repeatedly gomen nasai! I'm really, really, sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out!  
_  
_Gone Over_

**_Chapter Five: Importance_**

Slowly, Harry became conscious of what was going on, but only vaguely. He knew that it was still raining and that he was very comfortable in his current position and certainly wasn't going to be moving any time soon. His pillow was a little too far away so he brought it closer to him. The air had an odd mixture of rain and an unusual tangy, metallic smell.  
It was then that he realized that his so-called pillow was moving. Breathing, in fact.  
_Pillows don't breathe. They definitely don't breathe._  
The 'pillow' then decided that it would move - closer to him. Snapping his eyes open, Harry became aware that he was much closer to Cassie than he had been last night.  
_Much_ closer.  
Slowly, Harry looked around, wondering if he could somehow get away without waking Cassie, dimly noticing that the tangy, metallic smell he had noted earlier was the blood that was still caked around Cassie.  
_Blood.  
Death.  
Last night._  
Memories of the events from the night rushed to the forefront of Harry's mind. He was surprised that neither of them had any nightmares, as he assumed he would have woken up if Cassie had a nightmare.  
Harry steadily removed himself from the bed that was not his own and went to the attacker's prone body, although first making sure that Cassie was still asleep.  
"Huh. The knife is still in the body," he murmured out loud.  
Grabbing it, Harry made to pull it out of the body. It wouldn't budge. Scowling at the wedged blade, Harry pulled even harder for what seemed to be an hour, but couldn't possibly have been longer than ten minutes, at most. Finally, the stiff corpse released the blade. Grimacing at the dried blood, Harry walked into the kitchen and began his task: cleaning the knife.  
It was taking longer than he had expected. Harry had never realized just how hard it was to get blood off. You'd think he'd know by now, with all the injuries he's had.  
After drying the knife, Harry noticed something. It was different. The knife wasn't the same as it was before. It was still the same length, but it didn't look like a regular kitchen knife anymore. It was more dagger-shaped now, with strange symbols going up and down the blade. To Harry, they seemed like some sort of set of odd runes.  
Shaking his head, Harry left the kitchen for his room, setting the knife/dagger down on the top of the dresser.  
"I need a shower." He muttered to himself with a yawn. He was still incredibly tired, even after such a comfortable sleep...  
After his much needed cold shower, Harry headed back to his room once more with naught but a towel on him. Just as he was about to put on a shirt (with his towel still wrapped around him. Cassie's definition of privacy, he discovered, was limited to diaries, the shower, and locked doors. The lock on his bedroom door had broken recently and he hadn't gotten around to fixing it just yet.) Cassie screamed.  
"Harry!"  
Dropping his shirt, Harry dashed to Cassie's room. Bursting through the door, Harry faced a wide-eyed and terrified-looking Cassie. As soon as she saw him, however, she gave a sigh of relief and leaned back. Confused, Harry looked at her. She was still caked in the blood from last night.  
"What? What's wrong?"  
"Nothing. Nothing really, I..."  
"What? You wouldn't scream like that for nothing."  
"I was afraid you had left me." Cassie said quietly, after an obvious pause.  
Harry was confused. Why would he leave her? Especially since all that trouble he went through just to get her back.  
"Every time someone finds out what I – about me – they leave." Cassie continued when she noticed Harry's confusion, though wouldn't meet his eyes.  
Harry chuckled; he couldn't help it. After all the things he'd seen, Cassie's secret was the last thing that could make him run. The sound must have startled her because Cassie finally looked at him.  
"I'm not going to just get up and abandon you, Cassie," he told her firmly, "you're too important to me to just let go."  
Cassie didn't say a word. Harry wasn't even sure if she would be able to if she tried. The only thing Cassie did was grasp him in a bone crushing hug. That alone said more than words ever could.  
And then she let go.  
Granted, Harry was thankful to be able to breathe again, but he didn't understand why the sudden redness covered her face.  
"What's wrong now?" he asked.  
"Well, um, you see, uh, you don't really have much in the, uh, way of clothes at the moment..." Cassie trailed off, clearly embarrassed, which was kind of odd since she normally never noticed this kind of thing.  
Harry blushed himself, noticing that the only thing between himself and pure mortification was a towel.  
"Right...um...I'll just – go back to my room now...yeah..."  
Cassie just nodded and said that she'd probably get in the shower now, the blood was getting quite nasty.  
Once Harry got dressed he went back to the body. He stood there for a moment, just staring at it, not really knowing what to do now. Sighing, he grabbed Necromancion off the ground, headed for the nearest comfortable chair (which was, conveniently enough, the farthest one from the body) and began to read. Maybe it would tell him what he's supposed to do with the body used for a Raising. By the time Cassie had finished her shower, Harry had gotten to somewhere around the middle of Chapter Three: Various Equipments and Their Uses. Cassie set herself next to Harry as he closed the book, carefully marking his place. He had been desperate when he Raised Cassie. He would be skilled when he Raised Sirius.  
"Ready for story-time?" Cassie asked, some of her former humour returning to her eyes.  
"Story-time?"  
"Yeah, story-time. I find it highly doubtful that you know an Empath is."  
"Well – "  
"Oh shush, Harry."  
Harry opened his mouth for a smart retort when it hit him. Cassie called him Harry.  
Harry. Not Robbie. Harry.  
He racked his brain, but he couldn't remember when he had told her his real name.  
"When did I tell you my name was Harry?" he asked out loud.  
Cassie glared at him.  
"Ok, I'll be quiet now." He replied with pretended meekness.  
"An Empath is a person who can sense what others are feeling," she began, "depending on how powerful this ability is, an Empath must either concentrate very hard or they can do this naturally. Some can even turn this off and on at will. We can always sense intent – although I had turned my ability off at the time, which is why I didn't sense the attacker," Cassie answered his unspoken question.  
_She's a powerful Empath then. Is that why she was able to talk to me in Death?_  
"I knew that you're name wasn't Robbie as soon as you said it. I always know when I'm being lied to, but I also knew you wouldn't do anything and were, as far as I could tell, trustworthy. And it seemed like you needed someone to just sort of...be nice."  
Harry nodded. It made sense, as odd as it was.  
"When you were in Death and trying to Raise me, it allowed me to sense even more about you than I would normally. That's how I found out your name was Harry, not Robbie, and that you're a wizard on the run," Cassie smirked, "you fugitive, you."  
He grinned, glad to see Cassie was being more of her light-hearted self.  
"However," she said, a tinge of wariness entering her eyes, "I'm slightly different than that."  
"How?" Harry asked with a small frown of slight confusion,  
"Well...it has to do with spells, you see. An Empath, I don't think, is supposed to be able to do any spell work. A price to pay for their abilities I guess."  
"And you can?" he questioned.  
"Well – not exactly. I can – redirect – a spell. Or absorb it. I found out this little tid bit when I was attacked by a group of wizards five years ago."  
"You were attacked? By who?" Harry exclaimed. What if they were still looking for her? Was Cassie in hiding, too?  
"Don't worry about it. They're – unable to bother me, now."  
"Oh." A pause. "Ohhhh."  
So Cassie isn't as innocent as he thought.  
"So...that's it then. That's my story. The end!" Cassie stated, adding a happy tone at the end to try and lighten the mood. Well, fair is fair, so Harry told her his story in return. He told her of his life at the Dursley's (curse them) before Hogwarts and of Hermione and Ron and the adventures they had during his first five years. He told her all about Sirius; what he was like, how he died, and his plans to try and bring him back. He talked about his parents, how they died and the Mirror of Erised which had allowed him to see them, if only for a little while. Cassie asked him if he planned on bringing them back, too. But no, no, he wasn't going to bring his parents back. He really wanted to, though. Except they've been dead for over a decade and would be rotten corpses by now. If Harry wanted his parents, he wanted them as they were, not as they are.

By the end of his lengthy tale, Cassie knew all about everything, including Grimmauld Place and the Order of the Phoenix. It was a kind of relief, really. Harry had never spoken to anyone like that. Not Hermione, not Ron, not even Sirius. Maybe it was because Cassie was able to understand like no one else could. He didn't know. He found he didn't really care. Just as long as Cassie was around, he would be fine.  
"So you have to leave in three days?" Cassie asked him sadly. Harry felt suddenly uncomfortable. He had just promised her that morning that he would never abandon her and now he would be going off to Hogwarts in three days.  
"Well, yeah, I kinda have to. I need to learn what I can, you know?"  
"I understand. We'll keep in contact. Write letters using Hedwig and all that! It'll be fun! I've always wanted a pen pal!"  
At the moment Harry wished desperately that he had her same ability to sense what others felt so he could tell what she was really feeling.  
"I have to get to the Dursley's though, and pick up what I can. Dumbledore, I'm sure, would find me eventually. I'm surprised I lasted this long without getting discovered."  
"Oh that's because you're living with me."  
"Huh?"  
"Empaths have a kind of built-in anti-locator or something. You'd be surprised how many people think we aren't human and just want to experiment or something."  
"That's terrible!"  
"Oh don't worry about. They've given up looking for us anyway. It's kinda like how an Empath can't sense anything about an Empath of equal or superior power. Anyway, I'll drive you."  
"Wait, wha?"  
"I'll drive you. To the Dursley's. In a couple days and I'll take you to Kings' Cross as well. But what are we gonna do about the body?"  
"Uh...surround it with air fresheners." Harry replied.  
"What?"  
"Surround it with air fresheners. I'll be able to use magic again, legally, in three days so I'll just get rid of it then."  
"As long as you get rid of the smell with it. Geez, we're gonna have to bury that thing in air fresheners!" Cassie responded, wrinkling her nose. The smell was beginning to be a bit noticeable. "Yech! I can't stand it – I'm getting another shower!"

The sky was still filled with the early darkness of morning when Cassie and Harry pulled up to Number Four Privet Drive. Shutting the engine off, the two got out and creeped up to the door. Pulling out the spare key, Harry quietly opened the door as Cassie looked around to see if they were being seen.  
The entered the house as quietly as a mouse would, shutting the door with a soft, barely audible click. Cassie looked around and then mouthed to Harry, "Looks stuffy." Harry merely nodded with a half-disgusted grin at his old residence. He motioned for Cassie to follow him.  
Clearly Dudley had wasted no time in reclaiming Harry's room. It was already all but full to the brim with stuff that could only be described as Junk. It permeated everything!  
"You weren't kidding when you said your cousin was a pig!" whispered Cassie with a look of mingled horror and disgust, "No wonder you keep your room so clean!"  
"You should see his face."  
Harry looked around and swore.  
"My trunk is gone. They must have put it back down in the cupboard under the stairs. Wait here."  
"Wait! Is your stuff in the trunk or buried somewhere in this mess?" asked Cassie.  
"There's a loose board under the bed. I put everything in there so they wouldn't throw it out."  
Cassie looked from Harry back to the all but invisible bed in horror. "I have to dig through that!"  
Harry just grinned and darted back down stairs with the silence of a cat. He picked open the lock to the cupboard with a fleeting feeling of déjà vu. Happily, his trunk was there. Harry picked the empty box with ease and carried it up to the old room where Cassie was all but visible. There were various piles surrounding her, but she had apparently made it to the loose board because one of those piles was of Harry's things. Amusingly enough, it was the smallest pile.  
"Almost done!" she whispered, pulling out some more books as Harry began putting everything in his trunk. They didn't bother with clothes as all that was back at the apartment. Slowly, afraid the sound of the trunk lid would wake his uncle, they closed the trunk and locked it.  
Now for the trip back downstairs. They both grabbed an end and lifted as Cassie let out a soft grunt of surprise at the weight. Harry and Cassie gradually made their way down the hall and stairs, discovering that it's a lot harder to move quietly when you're trying to carry something. Especially when that something is heavy and full of mostly books.  
The two had just made it down the stairs and set the trunk down for a small rest when, as Harry opened the door to make it easier to get out, a sound stopped them.  
"Harry!" called out a very familiar voice.  
Cassie and Harry both wheeled around to see a figure standing in the kitchen, staring back at them.  
It was Dudley Dursley, standing there open-mouthed with a slice of cake in his hands.

_A/N: You have no idea how sorry I am that it took me this long to get this chapter out. I've already started working on Chapter Six, so that shouldn't take nearly as long...hopefully...  
Thank you all for reviewing! It means a lot to me, it really does. It's nice to know that people actually read my so-called writing!_

**_Thank You's_**

**fire:** Thank you so much! I'm really sorry it took me so long! I'll try to be better!

**Wiccan-Willow:** Thank you! I'm rather fond of Cassie myself. .

**GJMEGA:** thank you! I'm glad you enjoy!

**Lady Phoenix Slytherin:** I'm sorry I took so long! Thank you for reviewing!

**vamperfly:** heh...I guess this isn't very 'soon' is it? Thank you for reviewing!

**Anonymous:** I'm so sorry! bows forgive moi! Forgive moi! Ta muchly for reviewing!

**Caroline Hal:** Yeah, it is kinda darky, but its also supposed to be that way. It might get darker even later on...

**jackie:** Thank you for reviewing! I canna say if Harry will turn evil! Not yet anyway...

**liz:** Thank you! It really means a lot to me to hear all these great comments!

**lillinfields:** blushes Ta muchly!

**ER:** I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG! bows repeatedly I was actually planning on doing the tips silver, but then I changed my mind as I was writing it. Yeah, silver would have looked cooler, but its also a Slytherin colour and I didn't want anything read into the hair dying bit, you know?

**Toria:** I'm sorry I took so long! Thank you for reviewing!

**Lanfear1:** Yes, Harry can raise the dead. Fun stuff, huh?

**Ms. Issues:** Ta muchly! bows So sorry I took so long!

**WithAPenInHerHand:** Thank you! It was an...intriguing...chapter to write. Took a while to figure out how to make the Realm of the Dead more original while still keeping the flavour of what Garth Nix wrote. I hope I succeeded! Harry is about to go into his 6th year. I'm sorry I wasn't clear on that!

**Ouvalyrin:** Who can resist puppy dog eyes? Thank you for reviewing!

**Yami no Hikari Hime:** I'm trying! I'm trying! Thank you for reviewing!

**Artic Wolf2:** I'm sorry it took so long! Thank you for reviewing!

**Phoebe Mellano:** I hope you like this chapter, too!

**DarkWolfyOne:** Gotta love spontaneity! Thank you for reviewing!

**szelij:** Thank you for reviewing! Sorry it took so long!

**EriEka127:** Thank you! Yep, Harry's gonna be a necromancer now! Will he go dark? Take a guess! As for Cassie, I'd never kill her off!...I hope...o.o...gah! Don't scare me like that! LoL

**Siri Kat:** Continuing! Continuing!

**wanderingwolf:** Thank you! A snake? Um...I dunno...we'll find out!

**Slimpun:** So sorry it took so long! bows Thank you for reviewing!

**Lil Ole Me 97:** Hope you like this chapter!

**Yami Bite Yumi Me Chan:** Thank you very much! Heh, I had a lot of fun calling Harry a twit, like that! . good stuff, good stuff.


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